IT raids at residence of Congress candidate for Ranebennur seat in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Officials of the Income Tax and Excise department jointly carried out raids at the residence of Congress candidate from Ranebennur assembly segment K B Koliwad, drawing the ire of the party workers.
The searches took place on Tuesday night at the Ranebennur residence of the former Assembly Speaker, following complaints of hoarding of liquor and cash, officials said.
"Following a complaint about the hoarding of liquor and a cash of Rs 10 crore, we raided the place. We didn't find anything," Haveri Excise chief, Nagashayan told reporters.
The raids come in the run-up to assembly bypolls in 15 segments in Karnataka following the disqualification of the MLAs from Congress and the JD(S) which led to the toppling of the coalition government and installation of the BJP government led by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
Reacting to the raids, Koliwad said, "They (sleuths) came to our house but found nothing and returned empty handed."
Talking to reporters, he said ever since the BJP came to power, it has been pursuing the politics of vendetta and many Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram and D K Shivakumar faced the action.
The raids drew the ire of Congress workers who staged a protest in front of the vehicle in which the taxmen had arrived.
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BJP workers allegedly attack children during Christmas carol roadshow in Kerala’s Palakkad: Reports
Palakkad: A group of children celebrating Christmas through a carol roadshow was allegedly attacked by BJP workers in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Sunday night.
According to local reports, the incident occurred in Pudussery area of Palakkad, where over 25 children, mostly aged around 13, were moving from house to house singing Christmas carols. Reports state that a BJP worker identified as Ashwin Raj, along with others, allegedly assaulted the children and vandalised their musical equipment.
According to the police and eyewitness accounts, the children were using a band set that belonged to a local CPI(M) office, which had the party’s name written on it.
Allegedly objecting to this, the accused and his associates reportedly lured the children on the pretext of offering them money and then assaulted them. The band set used by the children was also smashed.
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The Town Police have arrested Ashwin Raj, a local BJP worker who has been named as the prime accused in the case. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest the remaining accused who fled the scene.
Speaking to the media, one of the injured children said, “We were using the band just for fun. When they saw that it had CPM written on it, they took us aside and beat us.”
"We had given the band set that was in our office out of love when the children asked for it. The fact that these young children, who do not know the intricacies of politics, were attacked shows the criminal mentality of the BJP workers," local CPIM leaders expressed outrage.
A police officer told PTI that the arrested accused is already booked under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
The sections invoked include Section 192 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and Section 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), police added.
